This invention relates to flexible bags and more particularly to bags having removable coupons affixed thereto and a method and apparatus for the manufacture thereof.
It has long been the desire of manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, and other sellers of products, goods, and services to efficiently reach consumers with promotional advertising in the form of coupons. Sellers often place coupons in newspapers or magazines to attract customers. However, because many persons in a certain market area do not subscribe to newspapers or magazines containing such coupons, the seller is incapable of reaching those persons. Also, newspapers and magazines are often saturated with ads and coupons. Consequently, such ads may fail to get noticed.
Sellers have recognized that consumers must eventually go to the store to purchase goods. As such, it would be advantageous to place coupons on grocery or shopping bags knowing that such coupons would reach the hands of the consumer. However, prior approaches for applying a coupon to a plastic or paper bag have been deficient; for example, the coupons may not have been easily removable, may not have been attractive to the consumer, or may have damaged the structure of the bag when removed. In addition, prior approaches have been deficient or lacking in applying different coupons sequentially to different bags being formed in the same manufacturing line to prevent inundating the marketplace with just a single coupon. For example, if the average consumer, when going grocery shopping, requires two grocery bags, the manufacturer may not wish that the consumer have two of the same coupons. Moreover, the consumer may wish to have two different coupons for promoting two different products.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,804,323, Des. 229,896 and Des. 237,780 to Bemel disclose affixing coupons to the bottom of a paper grocery bag which may be torn away from the edges which are affixed to the bag. However, these patents do not disclose how to apply such coupons to the bottom of the paper bags and do not suggest that such coupons may be placed in any other location. U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,323 further discloses a paper bag in which a marginal portion of the mouth of the bag contains coupons connected thereto by a perforation. However, tearing off the coupons in such a manner may damage the bags, limiting their reusability. Larger bags can be reused as garbage bags and smaller bags can be used as lunch bags when such bags are undamaged.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,586 to Gale et al. discloses a strip of coupons which are perforated along a margin thereof defining a margin portion and a detachable coupon portion, the margin portion being adhered to the inside of the front panel of a paper grocery bag. The coupon strip-applying apparatus is designed and positioned to apply the coupon strip at the beginning of the bag-making process. The clarity of the information imprinted on the strip is generally not very distinct and thus may not be attractive to the eye of the consumer.
Finally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,909,636 and 5,011,466 to DeMatteis et al. discloses a plastic bag tear off coupon wherein the coupon is readily severed at its bottom scoring from the front bag wall. The coupon is imprinted and dispensed as an integral part of the bag manufacture. However, because the coupon is formed integrally with the plastic bag, the clarity of the information imprinted on the coupon is generally not very sharp.
Consumers may tend to be unwilling to go to the trouble of tearing off coupons from bags perhaps because of the unattractiveness of the coupons placed upon bags which the prior art has provided or because of the difficulty in removing the coupon from the perforations which fasten the coupon to the bag. In addition, the plastic material of some bags may be unsuitable for use as a coupon from the consumers' perspective. Accordingly, there is a need for an inexpensive and efficient way to provide bags having high quality coupons applied thereon which are attractive to the consumer and easily removable such that the consumer will wish to make use of the coupon.
Consequently, it is a primary object of the invention to provide an inexpensive and efficient way to apply high quality coupons to bags so that the coupons are attractive to the consumer yet are easily removable and do not stick to the hands, handbag, wallet, or purse of the consumer.
It is a another object of the invention to provide removable coupons which may be applied to both plastic and paper bags.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a bag manufacturer with the capability of applying different coupons sequentially to different bags being formed in the same manufacturing line to avoid inundating the marketplace with just a single coupon.